Design Principles Framework
Create principles that guide your design decisions and align your team
What Are Design Principles?
Design principles are guidelines that help your team stay aligned as you build products or features. They help you make design decisions that prioritize the project objectives.
Once you've written down these foundational pillars, you can move onto documenting the nitty-gritty stuff with confidence.
Why Document Your Principles?
Team Alignment
Everyone understands the "why" behind design decisions
Faster Decisions
Principles act as a north star when faced with trade-offs
Consistency
Creates cohesive experiences across different features
Onboarding
New team members quickly understand your design philosophy
How to Create Design Principles
Start with Product Goals
What are you trying to achieve? Who are you building for? What problems are you solving?
Identify Patterns
Look at successful designs you've created. What made them work? What values guided those decisions?
Make Them Actionable
Each principle should guide behavior. How will you act it out in your designs?
Provide Examples
Show concrete examples of how each principle manifests in your product
Keep Them Memorable
Use clear, concise language. Avoid jargon. Make them easy to remember and repeat
Iterate Regularly
Principles should evolve as your product and team grow. Review them quarterly
Example Design Principles
Clarity over Cleverness
Make information readily available and easy to understand
Example:
Use clear labels instead of creative metaphors that might confuse users
How to act it out:
Define jargon with tooltips, use straightforward language
Consistency Builds Trust
Maintain patterns across the product for predictable experiences
Example:
Save buttons always appear in the same location with the same styling
How to act it out:
Document component usage in design system, audit regularly
Progressive Disclosure
Show only what's needed now, reveal complexity gradually
Example:
Advanced settings hidden behind 'Advanced' toggle
How to act it out:
Use accordions, tabs, and modals strategically
Feedback is Essential
Always let users know the result of their actions
Example:
Show loading states, success messages, and error explanations
How to act it out:
Design for all interaction states: default, hover, active, disabled, loading, error
Design Principle Template
Principle Name
Keep it short and memorable (3-5 words)
Description
What does this principle mean? Why does it matter?
Examples
How does this show up in your product? Provide 2-3 concrete examples
Actions
How will you act this out? What behaviors does this principle guide?
Trade-offs
What might you sacrifice to uphold this principle? What's the balance?
Ready to Define Your Principles?
Use our template and examples to create principles that guide your team